In an open letter to conservative evangelicals at The Daily Beast, Jay Michaelson, a Prius-driving, vanilla-latte-drinking, gay rabbi who is married to a man, appeals to evangelicals to join him in opposing the sexualization and vulgarization of society and other signs of cultural decay.
You may want to read that sentence a few times.
Yes, a homosexual rabbi is appealing to Christians to help him stop the demoralization of America. He admits that he and evangelicals disagree about the solution to this problem; but he believes we are all agreed that there is a problem.
Although it’s difficult not to see a gay rabbi who has long campaigned for gay marriage and gay rights as a major part of the problem, there is one sentence in his letter to evangelicals that hits the bullseye of truth. Here it is:
The trouble is, you’re trying to solve cultural problems with political solutions—because politicians have convinced you to do so.
He makes the persuasive case that although the Republican party have never really believed or practiced evangelical Christianity, they have used evangelicals to get themselves elected in order to further their primary constituency—the super rich.
Who’s Winning?
He then asks, “Which side of that partnership has won and which has lost over the last 30 or so years.” He answers by demonstrating the hyper-success of the ultra-rich, in contrast to the dismal defeats of numerous evangelical causes over the same period.
Not only is gay marriage now the law for over two-thirds of Americans while the value of marriage in general has been declining for decades; not only are television, film, music and video games more vulgar than we could have imagined in 1980; but more Americans are declaring themselves “Nones,” that is, people of no religious affiliation, than ever before in our history. Sure, some churches are expanding, but overall, your way of life is in steep decline. In short, you are losing horribly.
Michaelson challenges us:
So, who is using whom here? Have the rich Republicans been good for you, or have you been good to them? I look at the alliance you’ve forged with these people, and I don’t understand why you’re in it. Their agenda keeps winning, and yours keeps losing.
Culture Not Congress
While denying that he’s trying to get Christians into the Democratic party, Michaelson warns “that this Republican claim that you can build a Christian nation through politics is bogus, and only serves their goals. You’re fighting the wrong fight. You should be making your case in culture, not in Congress.”
